Gas turbine engines are used to power aircraft, watercraft, power generators, and the like. Gas turbine engines typically include a compressor, a combustor, and a turbine. The compressor compresses air drawn into the engine and delivers high pressure air to the combustor. In the combustor, fuel is mixed with the high pressure air and is ignited. Products of the combustion reaction in the combustor are directed into the turbine where work is extracted to drive the compressor and, sometimes, an output shaft. Left-over products of the combustion are exhausted out of the turbine and may provide thrust in some applications.
The turbine may include turbine wheels having disks and a plurality of blades that extend radially away from the disks. To withstand heat from the combustion products received from the combustor, the blades may be made from ceramic matrix composite materials that are able to interact with the hot combustion gasses. Making a root, platform, and airfoil of each blade may present design challenges.